Gymnastics set to take on Bowling Green

The Kent State gymnastics team will look to start off strong in Mid-American Conference play when the Flashes travel to face Bowling Green on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Kent State coach Brice Biggin said he is happy with the week of practice the team had, and even though the snowstorm set them back a little bit, he only wanted a four-day practice week anyway.

Biggin also said the team is aware of its mistakes during the last meet, especially the trouble they experienced on the beam event.

“If they want to stay in the top 12 or close to that, they need to score,” Biggin said. “And this weekend is a great opportunity for us to go out to Bowling Green, which is essentially like a home meet because we don’t have to travel very far.”

The Flashes have the benefit of starting the meet with its best event, the uneven bars. The team is currently ranked No. 5 in the nation on the uneven bars with a high score of 49.275.

Senior Christina Lenny leads the team on the uneven bars, an event that she ranks No. 11 in the nation with a season high score of 9.875.

“The expectation is that we can go out there and really focus on all four events,” Biggin said. “No one event is really more important because for us to be a good team, we need to be solid on all four events.”

The team could be without sophomore captain Lauren Wozniak, who is suffering from a broken toe. Wozniak said her status is uncertain but hopes to get another solid score on the vault if possible.

“Right now I could probably go,” she said. “But it’s a matter of pushing it or just giving it a couple more days in order to be ready to go for the rest of the season.”

If Wozniak cannot compete, the Flashes could receive a boost from freshman Nikki Moore. Moore had a solid outing in the team’s second place finish at Michigan last weekend.

Moore posted a 9.750 on the vault along with scores of 9.625 on beam and 9.675 on the floor exercise.

Moore said her mental status will play a major role in how she finishes, along with what she thinks about during each meet, trying to repeat the same things.

“This week I want to have a good performance as I did last meet,” Moore said. “I want to focus on the details, the little things because changing those things can be the difference in tenths and every tenth counts for our score.”

Contact Tyler Goddard at [email protected].